Davidson Current

For months, the buoyant flotilla drifted, carried by wind and currents until, in early 1991, beachcombers reported coming upon batches of the sneakers off Vancouver Island in Canada, pushed north on the Davidson Current.

But Pauly suspects that warming waters are causing yellow-bellied sea snakes to creep northward along the Pacific coast—increasing the chances that more animals get swept up into the Davidson Current.

The Davidson Current runs from south to north deep below the surface about 10 to 20 miles off Baja and southern California, along the edge of the continental shelf.